Filmmakers Reimagine Freddie Mercury Song As Powerful Allegory For HIV And AIDS

Filmmakers Esteban Bravo and Beth David hoped to honor Queen frontman Freddie Mercury in colourful type with their newest mission.

A simple homage, nevertheless, didn’t appear acceptable. Working with Common Music’s Dave Rocco, the pair reimagined Mercury’s tune “Love Me Like There’s No Tomorrow” as an animated brief that tells an allegorical, queer-inclusive love story.

Launched Thursday to mark what would have been Mercury’s 73rd birthday, “Love Me Like There’s No Tomorrow” depicts a relationship between two white blood cells who’re illustrated as homosexual males.

Earlier than lengthy, one of many cells/males is revealed to be HIV constructive. Although the serodiscordant couple are saddened by their actuality, they seem later as older variations of themselves swaying beneath a disco ball, implying {that a} fortunately ever after was achieved.

“Love Me Like There’s No Tomorrow,” viewable above, displays a number of features of Mercury’s legacy. The legendary singer-songwriter was, by various accounts, homosexual or bisexual and died of an AIDS-related sickness in November 1991, simply in the future after publicly confirming he was HIV constructive.

Courtesy of Common Music Group
Filmmakers Esteban Bravo and Beth David reimagined Freddie Mercury’s “Love Me Like There’s No Tomorrow” as an allegorical, queer-inclusive love story.

Bravo and David, who determine as LGBTQ, wished “Love Me Like There’s No Tomorrow” to avoid overt references to Mercury and, as an alternative, be indicative of the trendy AIDS pandemic. The pair used animation to relay a distinct side of the queer expertise in a 2017 brief, “In a Heartbeat.”

“In researching the HIV/AIDS virus and the way in which it impacts the physique’s immune system, we have been impressed to check out the story via a extra microscopic lens,” they advised HuffPost in an emailed assertion. “This attitude gave us a extra direct visible illustration of our battle, which allowed us to discover the extra nuanced struggles the characters face of their relationship with one another, their perceptions of themselves, and society’s notion, bias, and neglect of them.”

The video’s blissful ending, Bravo and David added, acknowledges the lives which were saved with latest developments in HIV-related well being care. As such, it spotlights the Mercury Phoenix Belief, an HIV and AIDS advocacy group based by Queen members Brian Could and Roger Taylor after Mercury’s dying.

“The LGBT+ neighborhood fought for years for the correct to correct analysis and healthcare, and due to that battle, thousands and thousands of lives have been saved,” Bravo and David mentioned. “By means of perseverance, energy, and love, our characters not solely survive, however dwell lengthy, wholesome lives collectively.”

Although solely a modest hit, “Love Me Like There’s No Tomorrow” first appeared on Mercury’s 1985 solo album, “Mr. Unhealthy Man.” The tune can be included on “By no means Boring,” a forthcoming retrospective of Mercury’s work as a solo artist due out in October.

Curiosity in Mercury has resurged prior to now 12 months because of “Bohemian Rhapsody,” the 2018 Queen biopic starring Rami Malek.

In June, never-before-seen footage of Mercury performing “Time Waits for No One” in a London theater grew to become a viral smash. As of Thursday, that video had been considered greater than 17 million occasions on YouTube.

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